“Plenty of time for the vamp to leave.” Marcos shrugged. “But whatever. Do it your way. If my father and Enrique will be cleared of any charges, fine with me. Just don’t mess it up or there will be consequences.”

  I helped Bea sit up in a chair and nodded my head at Nat so he’d block the view of the door to the alcove. The last thing Bea needed to see now were dead bodies and realize she’d been lying there with them. “Do you remember anything?” I asked. “You were at the party and someone grabbed you. Do you know who it was?”

  Bea ran a hand through her hair, grimacing. She must have hit her head at some point. “No, I mean... I was getting myself a drink and someone... Someone grabbed me from behind. Someone strong. I didn’t see who it was. Some guy, I guess. I don’t really remember much... Where am I?” She glanced around.

  “We can try to compel her to see if she knows more,” Enrique said. “Even if the vamp already compelled her, if we ask the right things, maybe it won’t conflict with his compulsion.”

  “No, absolutely not. She’s a key witness,” Nataniel said. “It doesn’t seem she’s been compelled by a powerful vampire, as far as I can tell.” He was probably able to see that aura of compulsion he’d told me about. “Or the vampire can hide his magic somehow. But I can’t allow any of you to influence her further.”

  Enrique rolled his eyes. “Good luck finding out anything then.”

  “Magic? Vampires?” Bea stared at us with wide eyes, then burst out laughing. “Oh, my God. This was all a prank, wasn’t it? You got me. You totally got me. Who are you, though?” She narrowed her eyes at me. “I’ve seen you somewhere before... You...”

  “I was at the party,” I offered.

  “Hmm.” Bea’s brow furrowed, and I glanced at Nat. Could she somehow remember me despite compulsion? Or was that my wishful thinking?

  Nat finished typing on his phone that I hadn’t even noticed he’d had out. “We have to remove the compulsion completely and see if she knows anything useful. We’ll tell her the truth.”

  “Wait... you want to introduce her to... our world?” I stared at Nat.

  “Yeah, I have the authority to do it now that she’s our key witness. We don’t have a choice. She needs to know everything so she can point us to the killer. We can’t have her disregard something she saw as a dream or a hallucination if she thinks vampires aren’t real.”

  I glanced at Bea, who was still a bit woozy and confused. “Yeah, okay.” We had to find the killer, and once we got him, he’d no longer be able to hurt Bea or anyone else. Then we could compel Bea again. The hunters wouldn’t let anything happen to their witness.

  “The hunters will be here soon,” Nat announced.

  Chapter 26

  “So how can you remove compulsion?” I asked and flinched as a change in the air made me look behind me. A group of people in black were standing there with bags in their hands. How had they arrived here so quietly without me being able to hear them? Maybe I hadn’t been paying attention, or maybe it was a special hunter trait, because Selena’s eyes were wide too.

  “Search the place. The killer was here,” Nat said to a woman with black hair and green eyes and pointed toward Bea. “She’s our witness.”

  The woman nodded, then with a few gestures of her hand, sent the rest of the group throughout the house. One of the hunters, a dark-haired guy, went to inspect the dead bodies behind Nat’s back. “Come with me,” the woman said to Bea, reaching out for her, and Bea accepted her hand. After Bea got to her feet, the woman led her to the other side of the room, then looked over her shoulder at Nat. “Prepare everything. The strongest one will do.” Her gaze raked over Selena, Marcos, Enrique, and me. “Nobody leaves this room until we’re done.”

  “Then you’d better hurry,” I said. “Because the killer could run away if he realizes we’re all gone from the party or that someone is moving around this house if he comes to check.”

  “Don’t talk to me, vampire,” the woman spat, shooting me a deadly glare.

  “Rosaura, please. She’s here to help. She...” Nat started to say, but Rosaura lifted her finger, shushing him. Without another word, she pulled Bea into the living room and closed the door. Nat opened one of the cupboards and found a bowl, which he placed in the middle of the table.

  “We’re going to need your blood magic for this.” Nat looked at Enrique. “You’re the only vampire in here who has made another vampire.”

  “My blood magic?” Enrique’s brow furrowed.

  “Don’t worry,” Nat said with a soft smile. “It won’t hurt and we only need a little of your blood.”

  “Why should I help you?” Enrique scowled, crossing his arms.

  “Because if you don’t, we’re going to declare you an accomplice to mass murder. Is that what you want?”

  Enrique worried on his lip. “Fine. What else do I need to do?”

  “Nothing. We’ll just remove all the compulsion used on Bea,” Nat said.

  “What?” Enrique gaped at him. “That’s impossible. Only a vampire who compelled her can remove it, and a lot of different vampires have done it.”

  “True.” Nat smiled slyly. “But a resistant person can’t be compelled.”

  “I’m not following,” Selena said with a frown. “Bea isn’t resistant.”

  “No, right now she’s not... but she can become resistant.”

  Everyone gaped at him, including me.

  “Wait, you’re saying you can turn an ordinary person into a resistant one? Why the hell aren’t you doing that to all people? My dad and my sister could use some of that magic or whatever it is,” I said.

  “Unfortunately, that’s not possible.” Nat gave me a compassionate look. “We don’t have enough eagahara for everyone.”

  “Ea... what?” Marcos asked, blinking.

  “It’s a very rare plant. Its juice is used for the ritual. We have only two doses,” he said. “And that’s a lot compared to what other hunters around the world have.”

  “We’re wasting time,” Enrique said. “By the time you finish scouring this place, do your mojo, and probably find nothing, the killer will be long gone. We should just go back to the party and figure out who the killer is.”

  “The party has just begun.” Nat glanced at his phone. “When did any of you vamps leave early? Ah, yes, never. I should know. I’ve been watching you for a long time.”

  Enrique just pressed his lips into a tight line.

  Selena inspected her nails. “Well, my dear hunter, do you happen to have an image of that plant somewhere? You know, just for educational purposes.” She grinned at him.

  “It wouldn’t help. Only hunters can see it for what it truly is. You’d just see a regular plant,” Nat said. “Do you really think powerful vampires around the world don’t already know about it?”

  “Hmm.” Selena pressed her lips together, probably because she hadn’t heard about it before. “If you’re so smart, find the killer already.”

  “Oh, I will,” Nat said confidently, then picked up a big knife from one of the drawers. “Enrique, will you do me a favor and place your hand over that bowl?”

  Enrique reluctantly did as requested and Nataniel sliced his palm, the blood pouring out into the bowl, but not for long, because Enrique’s skin knitted together easily, leaving only a rosy trail. “That enough?”

  “Yeah. It could be done without vamp blood, but a maker’s blood is the strongest and better for the spell.”

  The door opened, and Rosaura and Bea came inside.

  “I don’t think I should be here,” Bea said, eyeing us all suspiciously, especially the bowl with blood in it. The door to the alcove with the bodies was mostly closed, and I was surprised how the hunter could stand to be in there. I guess he was really focused on his job.

  “Don’t worry, dear.” Rosaura gently patted Bea’s hand. “You’ll be fine. Just sit in this chair.” Bea slowly took a seat at the table, her eyes meeting mine briefly. If everything went well, I’d have my friend back... if she still wanted to be my friend once she found out what I was. Rosaura pulled a vial out of the pocket of her black coat and handed it to Nat, who opened it and poured the bluish liquid into the bowl. Smoke rose as the liquid hit the blood, but it quickly disappeared. Nat closed his eyes and whispered something in a language I couldn’t understand. The liquid became purple, shimmering briefly, and then its color changed to a pale yellow. Nat picked up a glass and poured the liquid into it. He put the glass in front of Bea, who stared at it in confusion.

  “What is that?” she asked with wide eyes.

  “This will help you,” Rosaura said. “It’s a special juice.”

  “A juice?” Bea didn’t seem to believe it. “Are you kidding me? That looked like blood and... Are you trying to drug me?” Her voice was high-pitched.

  “Blood?” Rosaura laughed. “Just tomato juice, and some blueberry. It’s nothing dangerous. Trust me. It will ease your headache. I promise.”

  Wow, Rosaura was such a liar. Bea reluctantly picked up the glass and sniffed at it. “Doesn’t smell bad,” she said, and then took a sip. I expected her to gag, but she didn’t. Instead, she took a bigger gulp and then another, until the glass was almost empty. A shudder went through her body, and she dropped the glass, which shattered into pieces. A few drops of the liquid fell on my arm, and before I could wipe them off, images started filling my head. Enrique and me in the restroom of the club, his hands on my body, my dream of him and me... I blinked, gasping for breath.

  “What happened?” Selena asked, her forehead creased with worry. “You okay?”

  “Yeah, I just...” I looked at Enrique, who was biting his lip as he watched me.

  “What else do you remember?” I heard Rosaura saying to Bea as I was trying to shake the images from my head. Someone entered the kitchen and whispered something into Rosaura’s ear. I had to ask Enrique if what I’d seen—him trying to seduce me while I’d still been human—had actually happened, but we didn’t have time for that now.

  “There are no prints or DNA or anything that could help us in here.” Rosaura’s face was flushed with anger. “And some of it was probably tainted by all of you.” I didn’t like the look she shot at us, including Nat. “Of course, vampire saliva is tainted by magic, so no help there either.” She looked at the guy who emerged from the alcove and he shook his head.

  “They’ve been dead for...” he started to say, but Rosaura cut him off.

  “You’ll debrief me later on that. Don’t contact our friends at the station until I tell you to.”

  Bea was trembling, her arms wrapped around her, her eyes wide. “No, this isn’t... this can’t be.”

  Rosaura actually snapped her fingers in front of Bea’s face. “Listen to me, girl. We don’t have time for this. You’ve told us nothing new so far.”

  “Hey!” I stepped forward. “Don’t talk to her like that.”

  “Des!” Bea finally spotted me, her relief immense. “Thank God you’re here. Please tell me what’s going on! Please!”

  Rosaura’s fists clenched, her eyes narrowed.

  “I’ll talk to her,” I said. “Please give us a moment. She’s scared and confused and...”

  “No!” Rosaura snapped. “You’re a suspect too. Don’t forget you were at that house with him.” She snarled as she looked at Enrique as if he were the vilest thing she’d seen.

  “Rosaura...” Nat said. “Just... let her talk to Bea. I’ll go with them. Okay?”

  “Fine.” She nodded, none too happy, but I grabbed Bea’s hand and led her into the living room. As we sat on the couch, Nat stopped at the door so he could still see and hear us but was far enough away to give us some privacy.

  “Tell me I’m dreaming.” Bea pinched herself so hard that even I winced.

  “Yeah, that’s what I thought at first too.” I covered her hand with mine.

  “I remember some peop... um, vampires telling me to forget about you, and I... I think I did. How’s that possible?” She blinked at me.

  “Vampires can do that.”

  “Yeah, but why would they do that? Why make me forget you?” Her fingers twitched. “Who could be so cruel?”

  I licked my dry lips. “I... Those are the rules. No one’s supposed to know about vampires, and I... I died and became one of them.”

  “What?” Her eyes bulged. “You... You’re a vampire?”

  I opened my mouth and let my fangs out.

  Bea flinched back. “Wow. Okay. Just... I can’t even... Oh, is it anything like...?”

  “We’ll talk about that later,” I said. “I’ll tell you anything you want to know, but right now I need you to focus. We’re looking for a vampire who killed a lot of people and we think he was the one who kidnapped you.”

  “I told that woman everything I could remember. I swear. I didn’t see his face at all. He came at me from behind.”

  “I know, but is there anything that you can remember? His scent? What he was wearing? His voice?”

  Bea hesitated. “I... He smelled weird. I don’t know how to describe it.”

  I got to my feet, hurried to the room, ignoring the hunters who were there, snatched the perfume bottle, and came back to Bea with a whoosh. She stared at me open-mouthed. “Like this?”

  She sniffed the bottle. “Yeah, I guess, but it was faint.”

  “Maybe he still smells like that.” I looked at Nat.

  “Doubt it. He must have changed his clothes already, especially when he was so careful with everything.”

  “What about his voice? If you heard it again, would you be able to recognize it?” I turned to Bea. The vampire had no reason to believe Bea would ever be found, take that special potion, or even remember his voice, so when he’d compelled her, maybe he hadn’t changed his voice too much.

  “He didn’t say anything at all. I just remember him breathing down my neck.” She shuddered.

  “He’s strong enough to compel without eye contact or his voice,” Nat said. “That doesn’t help us at all. Any of the strong ones could’ve done it. They usually use their voice because it takes energy not to, but they don’t have to.”

  “Then we’ll have to go with the scent. Even if the vamp changed his clothes, I doubt he got a shower. We just have to get close enough to sniff it out,” I said.

  “It’s a long shot, but...” Nat shook his head. “Bea, are you sure there’s nothing else you remember? Maybe the vampire compelled you before. Someone had to invite you to the party. Who was it?”

  “I actually bought the invitation from someone on the internet,” Bea said sheepishly. “A few other vamps compelled me and... fed on me.”

  Nat pulled out his phone, tapped the screen a few times, and came over to hand it to Bea. “Look through all the photos and tell me who you saw. Doesn’t matter when or what they did, just tell me.”

  I waited patiently as Bea went through the photos twice and indicated who she’d seen. Thankfully, there weren’t many vamps who had been around her.

  “None of those are strong enough to be our guy,” he said. “And they’re from various makers, so... we should gather all the vamps and see if someone’s scent...”

  “No,” I said. “If the killer realizes we’re gathering them, he’ll find a way to cover up the scent. He’ll know something is up or that at least you suspect someone, so even if he doesn’t realize we know about the perfume, he might try to cover up any evidence that he was at this house.”

  “Then what do you suggest?” Nat frowned.

  “You and I will go back to the party and figure this out.”

  “I know your sense of smell is stronger now, but it’s not that strong,” Nat said. “Not unless you go really close and...”

  “Then we’ll go close.”

  Chapter 27

  “Are you out of your mind?” Rosaura stared at Nataniel after he’d told her the plan he and I had come up with. “She’s not going anywhere, just like everyone here. She could be working with the killer!”

  “I trust her,” Nat said.

  “Trust her?” Rosaura half-laughed, half-snorted. “Really? You trust a bloodsucker? What if this whole thing is a setup and she’s going to lead you to whoever her maker wants to get rid of?”

  “The witch wouldn’t let her lie about what she saw, and we know the scent is the key,” Nat said. “Keep everyone else here, but I trust her to come with me.”

  “So you’re just going to walk around and try to come close to all the vampires?” Rosaura said incredulously. “That’s ridiculous.”

  “It’s the only way,” Nat said. “We can’t let this opportunity escape. We can get him.”

  “He and that scent will be long gone before you get to him,” she said. “He could’ve sprayed that on anyone out there.”

  “True, but if he doesn’t know we’re onto him, and if his humanity is gone completely, then we have a chance,” Nat said. “Please, let us do this.”

  Rosaura seemed to be considering it for a moment. “Fine,” she said through her teeth. “But if you mess up...” She gave him a warning look.

  Nat flinched, then just nodded, and we stormed out of the house before she could change her mind. As we neared the house, music was resonating everywhere, and I was glad about it. Nat followed me as I made my way to the tent where most of the guests were. Adán was laughing with Aelia at the back of the tent, and considering I’d seen him through the eyes of the killer, he wasn’t the one. Ninian was chatting with a girl, who looked human, next to the table with the drinks. The way he was gesturing to her made me feel that she’d be his next meal, but it seemed he was having fun seducing her first.

  Adán looked up at me, a frown line creasing his brow for a moment, and I stumbled forward to make him think I’d been away because I’d been feeding on someone... someone drunk. Nat was pretending he was trying to catch up with me, and I turned my head to look at him and advanced without looking in front of me. When I collided with Valdis, I grabbed onto him to stop myself from falling, and took a deep breath as I buried my nose into his shirt. He smelled like alcohol, sweat, and lemon, but there was no trace of anything else.